The new 2021-2022 BFC Council had its first face-to-face get-together this past Oct. 22-24, at the Tudor House at East Garden. To help get to know one another, we started our retreat on Friday night with some wonderful icebreaker games. The 2021-2022  BFC Council members are Hye Jin Suzuki, Yuki Jones, Grace Ross, Susan Bouachri, Gary Hillier, Peter Reiner, Rob Kitchens and Marina Falconi. We were also joined by Pastor Justin and Rev. Daryl Clarke.

On Saturday morning, we started the day with Morning Devotion, followed by breakfast and our first session “Purpose of the Retreat and Expectations of the Council”, led by Susan. We discussed how to best support Pastor Justin and what efforts we might make to improve our BFC community in the coming year. That was followed by a session on “Brainstorming Challenges and Solutions”, led by Grace and Pastor Justin. We had a wonderful lunch and were treated to a fantastic tour of East Garden, including the museum, led by Mike Chapman. Here are some photos from our afternoon together: 

After our tour we continued our Saturday sessions with “Pastor Justin’s Priorities and Vision”, led by Pastor Justin. Then we all had a chance to visit the Holy Rock at East Garden for a dynamic prayer. Our final session was all about improving the efficiency and productivity of our meetings with a presentation on “Dynamic Governance” led by Yuki Jones. Our very full day ended with dinner and a great movie “Ford Vs. Ferrari” (make sure to see it if you haven’t yet!)

Sunday morning began again with Morning Devotion and breakfast, followed by our October Council Meeting, focusing on approving our annual budget. We were presented with our income and expenses for 2021, and projections for 2022, plus a few financial proposals. The meeting was quite long, almost 3 hours, but very productive. We ended the retreat with lunch and Worship in the Woods at Belvedere.

All the Council members were very happy with the outcome of the retreat, and felt a great deal of unity with one another and our new Pastor Justin and Senior Associate Pastor Rev. Clarke. We are looking forward to a wonderful and successful year for BFC!